Poetry
What is poetry? Type of rhythmic, compressed language that uses figures of speech and imagery to appeal to the reader’s emotions & imagination. Two major types: 1. Lyric poems 2. Narrative poems
What is the difference between lyric & narrative poems? Poems that tell a story. Examples are epics & ballads. LYRIC POEMS: Poems that do not tell a story, but is aimed at expressing a speaker’s emotions or thoughts. Major type of lyric poem is the sonnet.
What are ballads? SONGS which tell stories of tragedy or adventure. Use simple language & lots of repetition. Usually have a regular rhythm & rhyme scheme, which makes them easy to memorize.
What is a sonnet? 14 line lyric poem. Iambic pentameter: rhythm of natural language. - iamb: unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one (ex: before). - pentameter: 5 stressed syllables, or beats, in each line. Follows a regular rhyme pattern.
How important is imagery to poetry? Imagery: language that appeals to the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, & taste). Imagery is present in all poems. It shapes how we interpret a poem by influencing our feelings about it. Images may be pleasant/ unpleasant.
Is there only one way to rhyme? Rhyme: the repetition of accented vowel sounds, & all sounds following them, in words that are close together in a poem. End rhymes: occur at the ends of lines. Internal rhymes: occur in the middle of a line. Approximate rhymes: 2 words have a sound in common but do not necessarily rhyme.
How do rhyme & rhythm shape poems? Rhyme scheme, the pattern of end rhymes in a poem, defines the shape of a poem. Rhythm is a musical quality based on repetition. Meter is a regular pattern of stressed & unstressed syllables in each line of poetry.
Do poems have to rhyme? Free verse is poetry which does not follow regular rhyme & meter patterns. Rhythm is create through repeated words or lines. Language sounds ordinary.
Whose poem is it? The voice talking to us in a poem is the speaker. Not necessarily the poet; it can be anyone or anything. Speaker impacts tone, the attitude expressed toward its subject or audience. The speaker’s tone & style of speaking create the speaker’s voice. All of these are the keys to determining a poem’s meaning.